I am feeling so fresh and relaxed from our 3-day weekend! Our district was off on Monday for Fair Day and the kiddos are off today for staff development. It was a much needed break and I am so thankful for some quality R&R!!
We're almost finished with our Place Value unit and the kids are really moving along quite well! The place value unit was a little scary to me at the beginning. Moving up from first grade with the new Common Core Curriculum made math seem very hard! I love, love, LOVE teaching with songs, so I tried out some new tunes to help my little ones grasp the new standards. So far, it's working!!!
This song I modified from the Teacher Tipster. This guy is amazing!! He reminds me of a really good friend of mine who passed away a few years ago. I love watching his videos and remembering my good friend Nick! He worked with kids at a summer camp I worked at and truly had a gift! Teacher Tipster's song only covered tens and ones and we are learning hundreds, tens and ones. The new song goes a little like this...
"I don't know but I've been told (kids repeat)
Hundreds are big and bold (kids repeat)
Tens are tall and ones are small (kids repeat)
Help us count them all (kids repeat)."
The kids use the same motions for tens and ones (from the video). Since hundreds were added, the kids stand up and open their arms, making a square with their arms. I call on a few kids to go to the front of the room (as hundreds, tens and ones) and the rest of the class counts them. The kids love this activity and it's a great time filler/brain break throughout the day.
Another song we sing helps us comparing/ordering numbers. We teach the students to look at the largest place first. For example, when comparing 753 and 943 the kiddos should look at the 7 and the 9 because the hundreds place is the largest place. To help the kiddos remember this concept we sing the following to the tune of "The Farmer in the Dell"...
"We look at the largest place,
We look at the largest place,
When comparing numbers,
We look at the largest place."
I love teaching with songs because the kids seem to remember what to do word.for.word. When a student is comparing/ordering numbers, I ask them which place they look at first. They always answer, "We look at the largest place", which are the exact words from the song. They never vary their answer. Some kids even use the tune when telling me which place they look at. I love it!!!
I hope these songs can help your place value lessons. Do you have any math songs that work for your class?
Showing posts with label math. Show all posts
Showing posts with label math. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Monday, September 12, 2011
Math Menu
Happy Monday!
Today was our first tutoring session and boy did I come home T.I.R.E.D! We tutor after school until 4:45, which makes for a long day! Although it's a hard day, I love only tutoring one day a week! Anyways, here's another menu I'm using this year. It works really well for differentiation with those really high kiddos! This menu works during my math time. Once these kiddos are finished with their necessary math work they take out this menu and start working. These kids are usually working on this while the rest of my class is finishing their independent practice and I'm at my teacher table working with a small group. It's a great way to give those kids something constructive to do rather than reading a book at their desks or talking to their friend who is still working! I know you all understand the kids I'm talking about! :)
Choice Café
The menu is set up almost like a restaurant menu. I call it "Choice Cafe" because the kids have choices in what they do. They must complete the main dish and two sides. The desserts are optional. I encourage the kids to do as many items a possible. They have until the end of the unit to complete their menu.
I'd like to say again (as I said in this post) that not all the ideas on the menu are mine. Many come from Differentiating Instruction with Menus by Laurie Westphal. It really is a great book with TONS of ideas on differentiating your classroom.
Our next unit is coming up in less than a week and I'd love for my kids to get a chance to "show off" their creations and share them with each other. I'm hoping to have a special share time for these kids, calling it their "Menu Meeting". The kids will critique each other's work with post-it notes at the end of the week. It's a way for them to celebrate their hard extra work. Hopefully the kids will see this time as a special reward for working so hard and a time to see what other kids did with their menus.
I hope you had a wonderful Monday!!
Today was our first tutoring session and boy did I come home T.I.R.E.D! We tutor after school until 4:45, which makes for a long day! Although it's a hard day, I love only tutoring one day a week! Anyways, here's another menu I'm using this year. It works really well for differentiation with those really high kiddos! This menu works during my math time. Once these kiddos are finished with their necessary math work they take out this menu and start working. These kids are usually working on this while the rest of my class is finishing their independent practice and I'm at my teacher table working with a small group. It's a great way to give those kids something constructive to do rather than reading a book at their desks or talking to their friend who is still working! I know you all understand the kids I'm talking about! :)
Choice Café
The menu is set up almost like a restaurant menu. I call it "Choice Cafe" because the kids have choices in what they do. They must complete the main dish and two sides. The desserts are optional. I encourage the kids to do as many items a possible. They have until the end of the unit to complete their menu.
I'd like to say again (as I said in this post) that not all the ideas on the menu are mine. Many come from Differentiating Instruction with Menus by Laurie Westphal. It really is a great book with TONS of ideas on differentiating your classroom.
Our next unit is coming up in less than a week and I'd love for my kids to get a chance to "show off" their creations and share them with each other. I'm hoping to have a special share time for these kids, calling it their "Menu Meeting". The kids will critique each other's work with post-it notes at the end of the week. It's a way for them to celebrate their hard extra work. Hopefully the kids will see this time as a special reward for working so hard and a time to see what other kids did with their menus.
I hope you had a wonderful Monday!!
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